general

English

Alternative forms

• General, gen., gen, Gen., Gen, genl, gen'l, Genl, Gen'l
• generall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English general, in turn from Anglo-Norman general, generall, Middle French general, and their source, Latin generālis, from genus (“class, kind”) + -ālis (“-al”); thus morphologically parallel with, and a doublet of, generic.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US, Canada) enPR: jĕnʹ(ə)rəl, IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɛn.(ə.)ɹəl/

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒen.(ə.)ɹəl/
• Hyphenation: gene‧ral, (chiefly US) gen‧er‧al
• Rhymes: (US) -ɛnəɹəl

Adjective

general (comparative more general, superlative most general)

1. Including or involving every part or member of a given or implied entity, whole, etc.; common to all, universal.

   Synonyms: common, universal; see also Thesaurus:generic

   Antonyms: specific, particular; see also Thesaurus:specific

   • c. 1495, John Skelton, "Vppon a deedman's hed":

     It is generall / To be mortall: / I haue well espyde / No man may hym hyde / From Deth holow eyed […] .

   • 1842, Douglas Jerrold, “Mr Peppersorn ‘At Home’”, in Cakes and Ale:

     "Among us!" was the general shout, and Peppersorn sat frozen to his chair.

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, Canto XLVI, page 69:

     That each, who seems a separate whole,
     Should move his rounds, and fusing all
     The skirts of self again, should fall
     Remerging in the general Soul,
     Is faith as vague as all unsweet: […]

   • 1946, Bertrand Russell, “Stoicism”, in History of Western Philosophy, book 1, part 3:

     Undoubtedly the age of the Antonines was much better than any later age until the Renaissance, from the point of view of the general happiness.

   • 2006 October 15, Ruth Sutherland, “Invite public to the private equity party”, in The Observer:

     One advantage of having profitable companies in Britain is that they pay large sums in corporate tax into the Exchequer, which in theory at least is used for the general good.

2. (sometimes postpositive) Applied to a person (as a postmodifier or a normal preceding adjective) to indicate supreme rank, in civil or military titles, and later in other terms; pre-eminent.
   • 1865, Edward Cust, Lives of the Warriors of the Thirty Years War, page 527:

     For these successes he obtained the rank of Field-Marshal General.

   • 2002, James Turner, Libertines and Radicals in Early Modern London, page 122:

     He becomes the chief chartered libertine, the whoremaster-general flourishing his "standard" over a female army […] .

3. Prevalent or widespread among a given class or area; common, usual.

   Synonyms: typical, usual, common; see also Thesaurus:common

   Antonyms: abnormal, uncommon

   • 1817, Sir Walter Scott, chapter IX, in Rob Roy:

     ‘I can't quite afford you the sympathy you expect upon this score,’ I replied; ‘the misfortune is so general, that it belongs to one half of the species […] .’

   • 2008 December 20, John Patterson, “Home movies”, in The Guardian:

     The general opinion on Baz Luhrmann's overstuffed epic Australia seems to be that it throws in everything but the kitchen sink, and then tosses that in too, just to be sure.

4. Not limited in use or application; applicable across a broad range.

   Synonyms: broad, generic; see also Thesaurus:generic

   • 1924 March 17, Time:

     M. Venizelos went to Athens from Paris early last January in response to a general invitation from the Greek populace.

   • 1947 October 20, “Russian Catechism”, in Time:

     Already in the primary school work is conducted for the purpose of equipping the pupils with those elements of general knowledge which are closely related to the military preparation of future warriors.

   • 2009, Douglas P. Zipes, Saturday Evening Post, volume 281, number 1, page 20:

     Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is a general term indicating a rapid heartbeat (tachycardia) coming from the top chambers of the heart - in essence, above (supra) the lower chamber (ventricular).

5. Giving or consisting of only the most important aspects of something, ignoring minor details; indefinite.
   • 1817, Sir Walter Scott, chapter X, in Rob Roy:

     As she thus spoke, the entrance of the servants with dinner cut off all conversation but that of a general nature.

   • 1941, W Somerset Maugham, Up at the Villa, Vintage, published 2004, page 24:

     There was a moment's pause. The Princess broke in with some casual remark and once more the conversation became general.

   • 2006 July 16, Kevin Nance, “Ghosts of the White City”, in Chicago Sun-Times:

     The quick answer is that the 1893 Exposition was simply so important — "the greatest event in the history of the country since the Civil War," as Harper's put it that October — but that feels too general.

   • 2008, Robert P. Maloney, “The Quiet Carpenter”, in America, volume 199, number 19, page 18:

     Given the scarcity of relevant historical detail in the New Testament, we are left with only a general outline about Joseph.

6. Not of a specific class; miscellaneous.

   general goods

   • 2007, Alan Cheuse, “A Little Death”, in Southern Review, volume 43, number 3, page 692:

     His measured, springless walk was the walk of the skilled countryman as distinct from the desultory shamble of the general labourer […] .

Translations

Noun

general (countable and uncountable, plural generals)

1. (military) The holder of a senior military title, originally designating the commander of an army and now a specific rank falling under field marshal (in the British army) and below general of the army or general of the air force in the US army and air forces.
2. A great strategist or tactician.

   Hannibal was one of the greatest generals of the ancient world.

3. (now rare) A general fact or proposition; a generality.

   We have dealt with the generals; now let us turn to the particulars.

4. (Christianity) The head of certain religious orders, especially Dominicans or Jesuits.
5. (nautical) A commander of naval forces; an admiral.
6. (colloquial, now historical) A general servant; a maid with no specific duties.
   • 1918 March, Rebecca West [pseudonym; Cicily Isabel Fairfield], chapter I, in The Return of the Soldier, 1st US edition, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 18:

     My general is sister to your second housemaid.

7. (countable) A general anesthetic.
8. (uncountable) General anesthesia.
9. (uncountable, insurance) The general insurance industry.

   I work in general.

10. (xiangqi) A xiangqi piece that is moved one point orthogonally and confined within the palace.

Usage notes

When used as a title, it is always capitalized, as in “General John Doe”.

Hyponyms

(high-ranking military officer):

• brigadier general
• colonel general
• general of the air force
• general of the army
• lieutenant general
• major general
• sergeant major general, sergeant-major general

Coordinate terms

• (insurance industry): health, life, pensions

Translations

See also

• hetman

Xiangqi pieces in English (see also: xiangqi) (layout · text)
general	advisor	elephant	horse	chariot	cannon	soldier

Verb

general (third-person singular simple present generals, present participle generalling or generaling, simple past and past participle generalled or generaled)

1. To lead (soldiers) as a general.

Adverb

general (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) In a general or collective manner or sense; in most cases; upon the whole.

Derived terms

Anagrams

• enlarge, gleaner, reangle

Azerbaijani

Alternative forms

• yaranal (archaic)

Etymology

Ultimately from Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: ge‧ne‧ral

Noun

general (definite accusative generalı, plural generallar)

1. general

Declension

Further reading

• “general” in Obastan.com.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Adjective

general m or f (masculine and feminine plural generals)

1. general

Noun

general m (plural generals, feminine generala)

1. (military) general

Derived terms

Further reading

• “general” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “general”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “general” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “general” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish

Noun

general c (singular definite generalen, plural indefinite generaler)

1. general

Inflection

Ladin

Adjective

general m (feminine singular generala, masculine plural generai, feminine plural generales)

1. general

Middle English

Alternative forms

• generall, generale

Etymology

From a mixture of Anglo-Norman general, Middle French general, and Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʒɛnəˈraːl/, /ˈdʒɛnəral/

Adjective

general

1. universal, complete
2. comprehensive, wide-ranging
3. general, widely useable or applicable
4. common, widely present

Derived terms

• generally

Descendants

• English: general
• Scots: general
• Yola: generale

References

• “ǧenerāl, adj. & n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-01.

Noun

general (plural generals)

1. genus, class, group

References

• “ǧenerāl, adj. & n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-01.

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

general m (definite singular generalen, indefinite plural generaler, definite plural generalene)

1. (military) a general

Derived terms

• generalguvernør

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

general m (definite singular generalen, indefinite plural generalar, definite plural generalane)

1. (military) a general

Derived terms

• generalguvernør

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin generālis.

Noun

general oblique singular, m (oblique plural generaus or generax or generals, nominative singular generaus or generax or generals, nominative plural general)

1. (military) general

Adjective

general m (oblique and nominative feminine singular generale)

1. general (not limited in use or application; applicable to the whole or every member of a class or category)

Declension

Descendants

• → English: general
• French: général

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin generālis. Doublet of geral.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: ge‧ne‧ral

Adjective

general m or f (plural generais)

1. (military) general (said of the subcategory of armed forces officer with a rank above that of senior officer)
2. (military) general (said of the military with this subcategory)
3. (obsolete) general (including or involving every part or member of a given or implied entity, whole)

Noun

general m (plural generais)

1. (military) general (highest rank in the category of Army and Air Force officers, whose insignia consists of four stars)
2. (figuratively) chief, leader

Noun

general m or f by sense (plural generais)

1. (military) general (officer holding that post)
2. (military) general (designation common to military personnel holding the ranks of general, lieutenant general and major general)

Descendants

• → Tetum: jenerál

Further reading

• “general” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2024.
• “general” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French général, from Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒe.neˈral/

Noun

general m (plural generali)

1. general

Declension

Adjective

general m or n (feminine singular generală, masculine plural generali, feminine and neuter plural generale)

1. general

Declension

Related terms

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from German General, from Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡeněraːl/
• Hyphenation: ge‧ne‧ral

Noun

genèrāl m (Cyrillic spelling генѐра̄л)

1. (military) general

Declension

Slovene

Etymology

From German General, from Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɛnɛráːl/

Noun

generȃl m anim (female equivalent generȃlica or generȃlka)

1. (military) general

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Further reading

• “general”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xeneˈɾal/
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ge‧ne‧ral

Adjective

general m or f (masculine and feminine plural generales)

1. general, overall

Derived terms

Noun

general m (plural generales, feminine general or generala, feminine plural generales or generalas)

1. (military) general

Noun

general f (plural generales)

1. (informal, in the plural) general elections
   • 2003 July 12, fernando, “CON ZAPATERO PERDEMOS LAS GENERALES [WITH ZAPATERO WE LOSE THE GENERAL ELECTIONS]”, in soc.culture.spain‎ (Usenet):

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Cebuano: heneral
• → Tagalog: heneral

Further reading

• “general”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

Swedish

Etymology

From German General, from Old French general, from Latin generālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɛn(ɛ)ˈrɑːl/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

general c

1. a general; a military title
2. an Air Chief Marshal

Declension

Descendants

• → Finnish: kenraali

References